President Goodluck Jonathan’s chest-thumping as he marked our 54th independence anniversary was deflated by yet another damning international rating on Monday. Nigeria was ranked 37th among 52 African countries surveyed on public governance practices, scoring low on the selected critical categories that propel human development. Our officials need to stop living in denial, adopt global best practices and drop the corruption and ineptitude that have impoverished the majority of the population.
Reality stood in marked contrast to the false optimism and claims of outlandish achievements of our government on Monday. In the 2014 Ibrahim Index of African Governance released by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Nigeria appeared to have improved by ranking 37th, up from the dismal 41st it ranked in 2013. But such a notion was quickly punctured by Elizabeth McGrath, IIAG’s Director, who declared that the movement by four paces was insignificant since the country actually deteriorated in two of the four major categories on which the survey of 52 countries was based. Nigeria was a dismal 12th out of 15 West African countries. With poorer rating too in safety and the rule of law as well as a dip in human development indices, there is little to cheer.
The improvements over the 2013 report in the two other major categories of participation and human rights, and in sustainable economic development, are counter-balanced by generally below-average ratings in the other two, 14 subsections and 94 indicators used in the survey. Nigeria, said IIAG, “hasn’t changed much, it remains the same.” Nigeria scored 45.8 per cent; lower than the African average of 51.5 per cent and West Africa’s average of 52.2 per cent.
But it is only the latest in an endless parade of unflattering rankings. In the Corruption Perception Index 2013 published by Transparency International, Nigeria plunged further from 137th out of 177 countries surveyed in 2012 to 144th. Our score dropped to 25 per cent from 28 per cent. Nor is our moving out of the world’s most fragile states in the 2014 Fragile States Index to 17th cause for cheer in an economy with Africa’s largest Gross Domestic Product. We escaped the ignominy of remaining in the group of the 15 most fragile only because of the civil wars in Syria and Iraq and the descent of Guinea Bissau into an unstable narco state.
In its Ease of Doing Business Report 2014, the World Bank rated Nigeria 147th out of 189 countries, a further deterioration from its ranking of 137th in 2013. Despite all this and glaring poverty, unemployment and terribly inadequate infrastructure, Jonathan and his ministers have created a narrative of success, even as their failure and the tell-tale signs of a failing state daily confront Nigerians.
Yet, we have all it takes to become a great country. The GDP rebasing that raised the size of the economy to $510bn, Africa’s largest, in April brought out the country’s underlying strengths and the resilience of its people. With its abundant natural resources, including hydrocarbons, a wide range of minerals, second only to the treasures of Democratic Republic of the Congo, 82 million hectares of arable land out of a total 91 million hectares and the world’s seventh largest population at 170 million people, Nigeria is the archetypal elusive economic miracle.
But that miracle will not happen as long as Jonathan and his cabinet wallow in self-denial, avoiding hard choices and continuing to preside over a profligate and corrupt public administration. Problems acknowledged are problems half solved. The President’s falsehood that poverty had been reduced by 50 per cent is selective amnesia. With the Central Bank of Nigeria’s assessment that 80 per cent of youths are unemployed, a World Bank report asserting that 58 million Nigerians are poor and the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Report 2014 ranking it 127th out of 144 countries, Nigeria is still firmly one of the world’s poor destinations. The same report rated Nigeria the third worst country in the world in the corrupt diversion of public funds.
The choices we should take are clear: other nations once trapped in underdevelopment like China, Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and tiny Botswana understood the imperatives of massive investment in infrastructure, education, health and water/irrigation programmes. The role of the private sector is crucial and only an economy that sorts out its governance to meet global standards can attract the crucial level of local and Foreign Direct Investment that can take it to the top.
The most urgent reforms needed are public policy formulation and implementation. To avoid the serial poor ratings we receive, Jonathan needs to genuinely fight corruption, the country’s Achilles’ heel, tidy up public finances, and reform all key sectors of the economy to facilitate private sector-led growth backed by strong, business-friendly legislation and cut waste by pruning the over-bloated, corrupt bureaucracy through top-to-bottom measures.
Capital will only plunge into, and remain, where it is safe. Despite the obvious interest of the world in reaping from our natural endowments, we cannot maximise our potential until we effectively tackle insecurity, impunity and corruption, and re-empower the supremacy of the judiciary and the sanctity of contracts.
